


Worst perfect timing

by PurpleRose244



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Because ship, Bless Michael Adamthwaite, Bruiseshipping, But it ends with bruise, Canon Compliant, First Kiss, Fluff, I Love You, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Missing Scene, Romance, The Corridor of Elders, Tournament of Elements is so GOOD, still the same
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:14:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24460363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleRose244/pseuds/PurpleRose244
Summary: Someone might think the Corridor of Elders during a full blown war against an army of Anacondrai wannabes, isn't the most romantic place to confess your feelings for your best friend... and that someone would be absolutely right.Does that stop the master of lightning from trying? Absolutely not.
Relationships: Cole/Jay Walker
Comments: 10
Kudos: 73





	Worst perfect timing

**Author's Note:**

> After Michael's wonderful gift, I couldn't NOT write a bruise! And I can't believe it's the first one shot I post about them, with Jaya they are my favorite ships <3  
> Well then, here we go! Enjoy! ^ ^

Jay breathed heavily against the cloth of the mask, striking the next lightning. It was only a matter of time at this point. A matter of frantically slow, infinitely short, completely unpredictable period of time. From Jay’s perspective, even the last time he had at his disposal.

His last chance.

Feeling pressed against the narrow and mighty walls of the Corridor of Elders was downing, the nonstop charge of the serpentine warriors against them more, yet somehow the even bigger pressure of his teammates during the fight wasn’t as suffocating. Between the brothers of a lifetime, mixed with new loyal allies built through lies, challenges and trust, there was nowhere else the master of lightning could truly feel like being at the moment. His mind went to the junkyard, his home, or the Bounty even, ready once again to be their biggest resource against just another villain. But he was needed here, right here, shoulder to shoulder with so many warriors.

Ready to take down an army of invincible snake humanoid warriors that was going to destroy them… dang it, he almost managed to finish that thought without self-deprecating for once.

His eyes immediately caught the green, standing strong and ready in front of him while keeping the line; the little brat that wanted to be evil, now the wisest and bravest of them all, the truest savior of Ninjago. He caught a glimpse of red by his side, with plenty of fire; a burning presence, powerful, determinate, that didn’t know when to quit and now more than ever. His eyes were blinded by the sudden flash of light over the metal as Zane made a back flip against an enemy; words could hardly express the joy of seeing his favorite nindroid marching on the battlefield with him once again.

He knew Nya, sensei Wu and sensei Garmadon were directing their ship towards the current battle. He knew his parents were fighting as well as the citizens of Ninjago, he had no doubt. No doubt, right… if they were really going like this, with no hesitation, then his conscience needed to be clean as well. No more bitterness. No more excuses.

No secrets.

When he heard Cole loudly cracking his knuckles against a snake head, Jay took the deepest breath his very trained lungs could hold and turned towards him – right after split kicking two Anacondrai to next week of course. The black ninja’s fierce look was piercing from behind the mask, framed by the messy black hair of the truest of tough guys. The place was chaotically coming to a situation. It was now or never.

“Cole, I have to tell you something!”

“What?? Are you for real?!” The master of Earth threw a rock at three soldiers, then took off his ninja mask. “You’re pulling an ‘I have to tell you something’ now, right now, while we’re getting assaulted by Chen’s possibly invincible army??” A quick and very nervous nod followed. “Jay this is such a predictable thing to do, I’m asking myself if anything around here is real or not… but I did have the unrealistic power to bend earthquakes to my will for a while, so I guess it’s happening.” Just to show he hit the ground with his foot, making the opposite army tremble. But so did the walls, it was a risky move he could not use again – they used to have more space to be extra in their previous determinant battles.

Jay gritted his teeth. His breath was catching up, his duty as ninja was calling, the dust of the ground was making his eyes pinch and it wasn’t the only reason for it. And before him, a ninja so focused on the task to be unbelievable. Even if it was one of his qualities.

“Please, it’s important!” The black ninja growled.

“Is it quick? Can’t it wait?”

“Definitely not.”

“I’m sure it can but you just wanna play it like it’s the last time, like the drama queen you are.” Rude. True, but _rude_. “I’m guessing this is about the battle we had in the tournament, look there’s stuff to define but we’ll deal with it later, I’m pretty sure we covered most of the angst-”

“It’s not about that, just listen!”

“Guys, could you please focus on the gigantic army that’s right in front of us??” Kai’s surprisingly hysterical voice came out just like his fire punches, pushing two more snakes back. “Lloyd’s suddenly who knows where, those Anacondrai wannabes are getting through the Corridor and I’m pretty sure Skylor’s off fighting her dad ALONE!! So Cole, if there’s anything Jay wanna say before it’s too late just let him say it and let’s get back to kick butts!!”

Oh right. They were kinda losing a little, the girl the red ninja was so smitten with was going solo, and their leader – and baby brother, so double anxiety – had been first line only to disappear right after who knew where. If it wasn’t for this messy and generally awful situation, the blue ninja would had laughed terribly hard at having the master of fire pulling a Jay, even with the same high pitch voice. Just this once he let it go, watching the master of fire going into the rear along with Zane to help the elemental masters.

Cole hummed begrudgingly, using spinjitzu to keep the serpentines at distance. At this point, it was only about saving what was left to save. They clearly were going for the end. He gave it a long, definitive sigh, finally smiling towards the master of lightning.

“Fine, you win this one Zaptrap, what is it?”

“I love you, Cole.”

“Oh, it was quick, I’m sorry I should have let you say it immedia- Wait, what?” He heard alright, judging by how his eyes had just doubled their sizes. “… WAIT WHAT??” Only to fall dramatically over the already quite pummeled battlefield.

This was kinda nice. The slowly increasing exhaustion, physical and mental, and the usual mesmerizing fear of the unknown coming at every single final showdown Jay had ever participated to, was making it almost impossible to rationalize what he just did and said. Especially how his friend’s look was all over him like he had just materialized as the first Spinjitzu Master. It was pleasantly numbing, the only feelings impossible to ignore were a deep pinch of anxiety in his stomach, and a vague serenity into his chest. The rest was just nothing.

Cole’s gaping sounds were unnaturally loud. Jay snickered a little – his relief became an electric shock that made the snake jump as soon as he punched it. 

“Phew, it feels so good to get it out! I didn’t want to think about it while fighting, this kind of stress is really not recommended for final battles!” With a battle cry and a little spin and kick, a very sweaty looking Anacondrai beautifully took off flying towards the unknown.

Cole had his mouth ajar, yet he was still fighting – multitasking power.

“Whoa, ah, what the, heck, _now_???”

“Well, I thought that in the best scenario in which we survive I’ll still die of embarrassment having to live with you knowing, so I’m not gonna make it anyway. Better get it over with, positive think-” That grasp was, so unbelievably strong. And it mattered very little the crazy manpower of this guy, it was about the warmth of his palm, the safety of his grip on his wrist. The trust.

The black ninja had his eyes on his, so luminous and incredulous while immediately shifting when a group of purple serpents started to surround them. They looked at each other, and the next thing he knew the master of lightning was getting spun around by the arms while kicking every single fanged jaw he could find. With a little trick he didn’t know he could do he shifted his lightning to his toe, giving to one of Chen’s goonies a bit more than a visit to the dentist. Right after he was thrown into the sky, to give him all the time to adjust himself and land on the ground.

Back to back with his best friend, his… Cole. Who looked menacing and agitated at the same time.

“If you’re kidding I’m gonna squish out of your head what’s left of your brain!”

“Ahaha, no, no no no, my pranks are fun. This is plain sad, dude.” Jay laughed, his heart was aching so bad he almost broke his knuckles with a punch. “Although I don’t blame you, it does sounds like an elaborate joke. I mean, falling in love with your super hot best friend after you got separated over a girl and fought into an underground secret tournament, whaat? Sounds like material for a TV show, animated maybe…”

“Oh my gosh, can’t you stop?? Don’t you see I’m freaking out??”

The blue ninja bit his lip. Good thing everything was already terrible around him, he could almost pretend the next awkward part of his life wasn’t going to commence at all.

“I’m sorr-”

“How?? When?? We were at each other’s throat when we got back together with the gang and went to save Zane, how did you go from that to… t-to…” Wait. Was he actually embarrassed?? “You know… why?? Just spit it, come on!!” The master of earth grabbed two of the Anacondrais’ heads and smashed them together, going back to watching his friend’s back right after.

Right. It was hard to remember that under those solid muscles and confident leader attitude, there was a very introverted guy. A sweet, shy person, judging from afar only out of fear.

The blue ninja smiled softly, charging electricity between his hands.

“Can’t really say the how, I think this kind of things just happens, you know?” He shocked three Anacondrai that were in contact with each other, only to be replaced by four of them. “One day you wanna strangle him, the other you’re drowning in guilt and solitude and you wish you weren’t a stubborn jerk that refuses to apologize.” The snakes were starting to avoid his lightnings, they were really too fast. Too strong. He swallowed, yet still grinned. “Besides, I told you didn’t I? I take blame for losing Nya, I was way more upset about losing you.”

The citizens of Ninjago were doing a surprisingly good job at keeping the incoming serpentines at bay, yet they could do so much. It was getting tighter, concentrated on them. It always resolved around them at the very end.

Cole grunted, jumping and kicking an Anacondrai right in the stomach. Panting. Trembling.

“I-I thought it was a brotherly thing!”

“Well, yeah, but I missed you more than I missed her. That was a bit of a dealbreaker for me.” They entangled their arms together, lifting the other over the back by turn to hit the closest ugly face – every snake wannabe face was the closest ugly face really. “Also I, HA-YA!!- I missed you too much when you got taken by Chen, I was all, YA-HA!!- What if I never see him again? What if we lose him like we lost Zane? So at that point… NINJA-GO!!!” They separate to perform their respective tornados, spinning around each other to trace an area and gain some space between them and the serpentine. “Huff, at that point… I was so into it I didn’t even realize how handsome you are.” They were a good team. They had always been, before _and_ after their distance. Were they… were they not going to be anymore because of this?

It was getting bad. Keep it quiet about it might had been better, but Jay could say he had learnt enough honorable ninja values only to compensate his noise. He was blunt. And egoist. Cole swallowed, avoiding eye contact. Shaking like a leaf.

“Why in the name of the first Spinjitzu Master didn’t you tell me sooner??”

“Huh, ‘cause the less time I spend around you being aware while I try to awkwardly forget about my feelings until the fade away the better?” Jay actually snorted, dodging a punch covered in scales. still giving the other his back. “Why the rush?”

“You idiot, you should’ve told me as soon as you knew!!” His hit were getting stronger, louder, more… “I wouldn’t have spent all that time pining after you!!” _Passionate_.

“Well you’re not being fair with all this- Wait what.” Jay almost failed to avoid one of the enemies’ attempt to bite his shoulder, getting to smack his pointy smile instead. And right next to him, the sweetest blush of all time, on the face of a guy that could annihilate a mountain. “… WAIT WHAT???” The Anacondrai charged again, and he was forced to resist with the others, pushing the march with all of his strength. In a moment Kai and Zane were by his side, with all of the elemental masters and allies of Ninjago. And so was Cole.

Concentrated. Sweaty. Oh so red Cole.

A sudden explosion of power shook them all, the unmistakable green energy taking down a good chunk of Chen’s army. Anger, frustration, regret, it all came together as the wind from his attack flew dust all over the battlefield.

Zane winced at the scene.

“What’s gotten into Lloyd?”

“I don’t know, but it’s too late!” Kai was clearly in pain, struggling, using what was left of his energy to resist. “We can’t stop them now!” The final verdict, to their never quitting brother.

This was the end after all.

They knew from the start this kind of serpentine was the strongest, they knew it from the start it was going to be a chance fight, not a fair one. It never felt as evident as right now, while forming this kind of human wall even though their defense had been broken a whole while ago. It was a useless resistance, an extreme delay of the inevitable. And crazily enough, it was a familiar feeling. How many times Ninjago had already came this close to its demise? Lord Garmadon, the Great Devourer, the Overlord – the Overlord the Remake. 

Jay gritted his teeth, his muscles were aching, his eyes were misty, his entire world was closing by these two ancient walls so incredibly fragile and unsafe all of the sudden. The pressure of the extreme effort, that was a part of him. This, right into him, this spark of hope and joy. This was new.

“C-Cole…?” He looked amazing, the master of earth, showing all of his strength to defend what was left to defend. While his eyes were shining of such a bashful light.

“I thought I liked Nya, okay? I really did, because- Urgh! It was the first time someone payed attention to me instead of going after the Green Ninja or one of you guys! I even thought it was going to become an actual feeling, but-” He lost his grip, and immediately Karlof and Shade doubled the effort on his back. They were all pressed up together, holding on. Yet it was somehow all about them. All about Jay and Cole only. “But what I felt with her didn’t exist compared to the raw emotion from whenever me and you crashed! It was messy and frustrating but also exciting for some sick reason, and it’s so incredibly embarrassing saying it out lo- Ahh!!”

“COLE!!!” With one strong thunder Jay managed to get some time, enough to run in the back where the master of earth had been thrown in the rear by a might tail hit. Their friends covered for them, but the attack was getting stronger. Even stronger. He kneeled down, holding his comrade by his shoulders, a wide smile of fear in his face. “Hey… h-hey, don’t leave me hanging.” His heart was beating agonizingly fast, because it was happening. But it was happening _now_.

Cole was right. So scripted and predictable it didn’t seem real. The black ninja sighed, wincing.

“I… ouch…” He gritted his teeth, slowly opening his eyes, then just as slowly smiling at him. “I missed you, when we were apart. So, so much I got tired of it, thinking that not seeing you was better than bickering with you, I thought I was being the bigger person. But really, the moment I saw you again made me feel so stupid for waiting.” He got up with the blue ninja help, leaning helplessly on his support with his forehead over his shoulder. “Even fighting is better than not having you in my life.”

Jay felt tears coming up. Truly, this was the worst and best moment for all, and it made him feel so conflicted as he lightly embraced the master of earth beaten body.

“I-I missed you too, I-”

“I’m not done, Motor Mouth.” Cole grabbed his shoulders with the little strength he had left, staring into his eyes. Beautiful, deep lucid eyes, irritated by the dust and the effort. “When I lost the tournament and got sent to the factory, I had time to think. And I realized that even while separated, I never stopped thinking about you, not even once! The moment I came to my senses boom, where’s Jay? Is he gonna be okay? Is he gonna be safe? When am I gonna see his adorable face again??” He swallowed, his hands still on his shoulders, looking away. “… it kinda clicked there. But to be perfectly honest, my heart has been hoping for a while now.”

A breath. Two breath. How time was getting meaningless while being essential right there, it was numbing. The master of lightning could barely feel himself into that mess, while his body was painfully exhausted, and his heart aching for joy. A solid grunt woke the both of them, calling them back into action to hold back the Anacondrai. The both of them ran towards the barrier, holding on against the Anacondrai army restlessly pushing through.

The block was broken, their defense was meaningless. Unfair. It was so unfair. Jay bit his lip until it hurt, doubling the effort of Neuro and Bolobo, feeling a little tear slip.

“W-we’re not gonna make it! We’re not gonna make it!!”

“Shut up, shut up!! There’s no way this is the end, I’m not giving up on it so you better hold on until the end!!” Cole growled, determinate, focused, looking at him. “I’m not giving up, not before I ask you out, Jay Walker!” Better than his dreams, this exact scene. Out of a fantasy, so painfully happy and satisfactory.

It almost made him forget how the enemy’s army had already crossed the line, going for their beloved land. That there was no real victory after all, just a helpless saving of the ashes. The elemental masters were losing their grip, the Anacondrai seemed unstoppable. And in all that chaos, in their inevitable defeat, Jay thought about their date. About holding Cole’s hand while visiting a museum, pretending to be interested only to see the black ninja’s sparkle of curiosity in his eye. Perhaps with his jacket on his shoulders, because he was sure this guy was a gentleman like that. Just smiling, happy, warm.

The lightning cursed through his hands, shocking the snakes in contact with it. He pushed, harder, challenging the enemy’s strength. They couldn’t make it. but they needed. He couldn’t make it. But he _needed_ to. He needed to make it happen! he needed to…!

When the sudden column of light appeared, all of Ninjago trembled, like it had collided with another world. Some kind of portal opened right in the middle of the sky, a giant tornado of cyan and shining clouds getting darker and darker in the middle. The two armies stopped, captured and confused by the mystical sight getting bigger and more luminous. The premonition of something big shook them all, very soon. And all of the sudden Jay, while feeling his pupils burning in front of the blinding glowing sight, felt the big urge to laugh like never before.

Right. This was Ninjago after all. Destiny had always liked to play it dangerous on them after all.

***

“Any time you need our help, just holler.”

“Same goes for you.” Neuro smiled kindly at them, like he rarely ever did during the tournament. “I imagine we all have homes and villages to go back to. Thank you, ninja.” He grabbed Zane’s hand in appreciation, giving a little nod.

The nindroid held back, smiling widely.

“Thank you, friend.”

“Ahahah, I can’t believe we actually did it!!” Jay let go of Karlof’s side, the excitement into his body preventing him from staying still. “That was incredible, we worked together as one just like Lloyd said we needed to be, we should team up more often, combining our elements, and I wanna know more about you guys! Can Karlof lift more than Cole? Can Neuro read Zane’s mind? Wait can he, is it possible to read a nindroid’s mind? Hey where is Skylor and where is Kai where did he go I wasn’t-” In a moment he was grabbed, spun, then dipped by two extremely well built and familiar arms. Those deep eyes looked extremely playful. “What the-”

As soon as Cole grinned and kissed him, the blue ninja almost froze on the spot. Only to realize that holy cow the guy of his dreams was kissing him and he wanted nothing more but to melt into those rough yet surprisingly soft lips. The master of earth was so unfairly gentle, it almost brought pure tears to his eyes as Jay laced his arms around his neck, bringing his fingers between his black hair. Humming softly as it got softer, closer, more beautiful after every single second.

When they parted, in such a soft smack it gave him shivers, Jay kept his eyes closed. Just for a few moments, too giddy and happy to even think about doing something else but enjoy it. When he finally opened his eyelids, he encountered such a sweet look it didn’t seem possible.

Cole looked blessed just by his mere sight. Then he snickered.

“Who knew there was such an effective way to shut you up?” He pulled him back up without getting his hands off his sides, laughing at the sudden pout of the master of lightning that was then pressed against his mouth.

Jay liked that it was this simple, just holding onto him as he pressed further, making him feel so light on his feet. Enough to forget about what they had risked today. Enough to forget about the looks covering their backs – and some chatters about this explaining something something _tension_ between them during their fight in the tournament. Enough for the unnecessary wait. Enough for the both of them.

The blue ninja backed away, breathless, only to lean his forehead over the other’s.

“Don’t act so cocky, I still haven’t heard it from you. You know… your answer.” Cole arched an eyebrow. “And since mine was so rushed, I expect you to make up for the lack of romance. You better make me swoon.” Not like it was hard getting a better atmosphere than an actual war against one of the most ancient beings of Ninjago.

Cole blinked at him.

“What? I don’t do romantic, that’s just an excuse to embarrass myself!”

“Yeah that’s kinda the point babe.” As the black ninja pouted and blushed at the same to, so illegally adorably, Jay couldn’t help but kiss him again. Only to broke it right there, as they were both smiling too much to keep it.

“Well well, would you look at that!”

Right, there were kinda making a spectacle of themselves, and that was besides the elemental masters watching them like they were the exciting conclusion of a sitcom. Kai was smirking so much it looked genuinely painful, no genius was needed to predict the crazy amount of mockery that red ninja had in store for the both of them. Zane looked confused – how to blame him, he did miss most of the drama while he was ‘gone’ –, even with a sweet smile on his face like he was happy for them nonetheless. When the Green Ninja’s sad look crossed their entangled arms, a spark of happiness lightened up his down features, like there was more about the end of this second serpentine war than what they were aware of.

Sensei Wu was grinning – perhaps he already knew and that was something he should had told them sooner? –, Misako seemed surprised.

And Nya. Nya was absolutely taken back, looking at the two of them with her red lips gently parted. Jay could barely understand what was going through her head, seeing her ex and the guy she was interested in like that. It scared him, because he used to think the two of them were on the same length. Engineers, smart people, always looking at the possible improvement. But they were different after all. _That_ too much different, even.

Because the samurai recovered from the confusion, and smiled affectionately at him. Like she was truly, genuinely happy about them. Like she cared about the both of them too much, to get devoured by jealousy or bitterness. And like maybe, just maybe…

_ “Maybe you belong together!” _

She had unconsciously suspected this ending right from the start.

Jay smiled back, following the others as Lloyd took the lead towards the Corridor of Elders, holding Cole’s hand without even thinking. And the black ninja held back just as strongly, just as peacefully, right when the sun of that endless day touched the limit of the mountain, turning orange like the warm sky of this after battle.

What a corny moment. What an embarrassing, perfect time to live in.

**Author's Note:**

> I rewatched the episode for this fic and man, Tournament of Elements is so GOOD! I'm feeling a little nostalgic, I like the new seasons but you know, the classics... <3  
> I don't have much to say about this, I literally just wanted to throw Jay's "I love you" in it and see pining mess Cole handle it... I don't know why I put them during the second serpentine war, I guess I can't let go of the angst no matter what ^^" But yeah, I just wanted some bruise, nothing less nothing more! ;)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Leave a comment, a kudos, a trap door or a MoOoRrRrOoOoO!!! (that foreshadowing at the end of the episode still haunts my dreams ^^")  
> See ya!! Byee!! ^ ^
> 
> P.S. Let me know if there are some errors!!


End file.
